Windows Server

mikehein · Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 2 Location: New Zealand

I have a Windows SBS 2003 Server Standard with Service Pack 1 installed. Hardware specifications are:
CPU - Xeon 3GHz
RAM - 1GB
2 x NIC (1x LAN and 1xWAN Router - configured for RAS/VPN)
Antivirus - Symantec Business 9
Backup - HP DDS4 with TapeWare 7

There are 8 client computers all configured DHCP (from the Server) running Windows XP Pro.

I am receiving multiple times a day the following alert:
"The processor is experiencing a low level of idle time. Consistently low levels of idle time can cause performance problems."

Task manager reports that the System Idle Process is hovering between 60 - 90% Utilisation and is killing the performance of the Server.

No other processes are reporting abnormally high CPU usage.

MS Exchange is purley SMTP and no POP is configured (and thus the POP Service is not running) - in case you want to point me to the particular KB which relates to the combination.

The Server, in general, has been running fine with this problem for the last 6-months but its "performance" has always been questionable and the SBS Alerts are a nuisance. I have exhausted all Internet and MS resources relating to this problem.

Could anyone give me some direction? Thanx in advance.

RJenkins · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 5 Location: UK

Hi.

The system idle process is the idle or empty process thread which means that when this thread is 'using' a high percentage of the processor, its not actually 'busy' its more like waiting for some work threads to execute. So the higher the value of system idle process, the less the processing load on your server is.

If you bring up task manager (ctrl + alt + del) and click task manager, then click the performance tab. You will see a CPU usage graph and a cpu usage history graph. This does not count the system idle process in its information, so you get a better, albeit more simple view of what your processor is doing.

The guideline is, according to all of the books on the subject from Microsoft and others, is that as long as processor usage is not consistently above 85% or above 85% for very long periods of time, then there is no bottleneck in terms of processor usage. This is of course a more simplistic ideal world view, but generally it holds true.

It would seem that from the information you give in your post, that your server doesnt have a processor bottleneck problem overall.

These alerts may possibly be misconfigured -ie with a low threshold counter for the cpu usage, or it may have been sampling when the processor was busy.

To get a fuller picture, you'd have to do some performance analysis over the course of a longer period such as a day using the performance snapin in administrative tools, then you can see what the patterns are. It may be that it happens at a certain part of the day -such as when a backup is ran or a virus scan is scheduled.

If you are still experiencing slow performance then there are many other factors, not only the servers resources like memory, disk etc, the network and client machines are also candidates for the poor performance seen.

Hope this helps.

mikehein · Joined: 05 Apr 2006 Posts: 2 Location: New Zealand

Thanx for the prompt reply.
What you say about the System Idle Process (SIP) makes sense. I am currently logged on remotely to the effected Server and the SIP is hovering at around 75%.
However, the process System seems to be next on the list with high CPU usage, in contrast to the other Services running, it is hovering roung 35% (which, to me, may seem normal).
The Alert Threshold is set to "Less than 5%" and the 30-day Counter Average is at 46%.
Yes, it may seem that the sampling for the report may take place during the backup cycle or virus scan activity.
1) Is there a way to change the time when the sampling for the Alert is triggered? (to ensure that it does not conflict with daily virus scans and backup)
2) What should the Threshold be set to? (I have pushed it to 15% for the interim).

Thanx again for your continued and VALUED support.

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